Bridge repairs to slow beach traffic for 2 years

FORT LAUDERDALE — Two years of headaches begin Tuesday for commuters and visitors who drive back from the beach via Sunrise Boulevard.

Westbound Sunrise will be squeezed from three to two lanes between Middle River Drive and Northeast 20th Avenue while crews demolish and rebuild the bridge over the Middle River.

The 42,000 vehicles a day that use the bridge don't have convenient alternatives.

The nearby East Las Olas Boulevard bridge, which is undergoing a $5.8 million face-lift, remains one lane in each direction until April. The only other east-west routes to the beach are Oakland Park Boulevard to the north and Southeast 17th Street to the south.

"Why would they begin this work while the Las Olas Bridge is still under construction and at the beginning of snowbird season?" asked Jim Slowey, of Fort Lauderdale.

State officials say there never is a perfect time to schedule construction.

"Obviously, there will be some impacts to the community. But it's the only way to do the work," said Dayana Iglesias, a Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

The Middle River bridge was built in the 1950s and has been widened twice. It's on the state's deficient bridge list, meaning it needs repairs or replacing. Its underside has suffered from years of exposure to salt water and spray from passing watercraft.

The $9.5 million job will be handled by Dragados USA, which is also leading the $1.2 billion reconstruction of Interstate 595.

One of the first tasks involves the water lines underneath and along the north side of the span. Crews also are building a temporary bridge north of the existing bridge. It will handle two lanes of westbound traffic starting in August while the new span is built one side at a time. The south side will be first, followed by the north side.

Starting Tuesday, the westbound left turn lane to Northeast 20th Avenue will be converted to a westbound through lane during construction.

That means residents in Victoria Park headed home from the beach will have to continue west on Sunrise beyond the Gateway theater to either Northeast 17th Way or Northeast 15th Avenue to make a left turn.

Eastbound Sunrise across the bridge, which leads to the beach and The Galleria mall, will be open during construction about 80 percent of the time.

For mariners, the new span will have 3.8 feet more vertical clearance than the existing bridge, which stands at 6 feet, 5 inches.

The bridge will include 6-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides, but no bike lanes. The sidewalk along westbound Sunrise Boulevard approaching the bridge will be 10 feet wide.

Other improvements include a decorative wave wall on the north side of Sunrise Boulevard approaching the bridge from Middle River Drive. A smaller decorative wall will be built on the south side but won't extend as far east because the state doesn't own the land.